LEARN ABOUT

THE ATMOSPHERE

An atmosphere is a layer or a set of layers of gases surrounding a planet or other material body, that is held in place by the gravity of that body. An atmosphere is more likely to be retained if the gravity it is subject to is high and the temperature of the atmosphere is low.

The atmosphere of Earth is composed of nitrogen (about 78%), oxygen (about 21%), argon (about 0.9%) with carbon dioxide and other gases in trace amounts. Oxygen is used by most organisms for respiration; nitrogen is fixed by bacteria and lightning to produce ammonia used in the construction of nucleotides and amino acids; and carbon dioxide is used by plants, algae and cyanobacteria for photosynthesis. The atmosphere helps to protect living organisms from genetic damage by solar ultraviolet radiation, solar wind and cosmic rays. The current composition of the Earth's atmosphere is the product of billions of years of biochemical modification of the paleoatmosphere by living organisms.

+ THE TROPOSPHERE

The troposphere is the lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere. The troposphere starts at Earth's surface and goes up to a height of 7 to 20 km (4 to 12 miles, or 23,000 to 65,000 feet) above sea level. Most of the mass (about 75-80%) of the atmosphere is in the troposphere. Almost all weather occurs within this layer.

+ THE STRATOSPHERE

Many jet aircrafts fly in the stratosphere because it is very stable. Also, the ozone layer absorbs harmful rays from the Sun. No weather occurs in the stratosphere. The stratosphere contains over 15% of the total mass of the atmosphere

+ THE MESOSPHERE

The mesosphere is above the stratosphere layer. The mesosphere starts at 50 km (31 miles) above Earth's surface and goes up to 85 km (53 miles) high. The top of the mesosphere is the coldest part of Earth's atmosphere. The mesosphere is very important for earth's protection. The mesosphere burns up most meteors and asteroids before they are able to reach the earth's surface.

+ THE THERMOSPHERE

The Thermosphere the region of the atmosphere above the mesosphere and below the height at which the atmosphere ceases to have the properties of a continuous medium. The thermosphere is characterized throughout by an increase in temperature with height.

+ THE IONOSPHERE

The ionosphere is the ionized part of Earth's upper atmosphere, from about 60 km (37 mi) to 1,000 km (620 mi) altitude, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere.

+ THE EXOSPHERE

The exosphere is the uppermost region of Earth's atmosphere as it gradually fades into the vacuum of space. Air in the exosphere is extremely thin - in many ways it is almost the same as the airless void of outer space.

+ THE MAGNETOSHERE

The magnetic field of the Earth is surrounded in a region called the magnetosphere. The magnetosphere prevents most of the particles from the sun, carried in solar wind, from hitting the Earth. Some particles from the solar wind can enters the magnetosphere.